Hard Choices
by Dr. Michaela Quinn
Summary: Jamie graduates from Princeton and asks Paris to marry him. She must decide between marrying "her love" or following her dream of college.


**A/N: Season Six, but (clearly) Paris and Jamie never broke up. I didn't like how that happened.**

Rory walked into the dorm where she saw Paris standing in the middle of the room holding her phone, stunned. "Paris?" She walked over to her. "Paris?"

"Oh hey Rory," Paris finally said acknowledging her after several times of trying to get her attention.

Rory scrunched up her nose and gave Paris a funny look, "what's going on? Are you okay?" She asked. Paris had always been a little flighty, but this was strange even for her.

Paris turned to her and nodded, "yeah, I'm fine." She said softly and Rory grabbed her arm and pulled her back over to sit on the couch.

"Something's going on. Did you get a call from home? Is something wrong with Jamie?"

"Oh no," she said raising her arm a little off the couch in a shrug, "nothing's wrong with Jamie."

"So tell me!" Rory exclaimed. She was getting worried about her roommate. They had known each other for several years now and she had never before seen Paris act like this.

Paris stood up and started to walk away, "Jamie asked me to marry him."

"What?"

"He proposed to me Rory. Jamie's graduating from college this spring and he wants us to get married."

"Well? What do you think? Do you love him?" Rory shot off question after question.

Paris started wringing her hands, "I think so... I mean, yeah, I love him."

"If you aren't sure, is that fair to him?"

"No, but I really do love him Rory."

Rory smiled, "so what's the problem? You seemed dumbstruck when I walked in."

"Well I wasn't expecting him to propose on the phone."

Rory choked as her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "He asked you over the phone?"

"Yep. He said he'd bring the ring tomorrow and do it properly, but he asked me tonight over the phone what I thought about us getting married."

"What'd you say?"

"There are so many things to consider Rory. One major problem that I can think about."

"For starters, what did you say? Did you agree to marry him? Did you say yes?"

Paris stared at her for a few moments, more like she was looking through Rory rather than at her before she nodded, "after I was able to speak again, I said yes." The more she talked, Paris started to smile and even glow just a little bit Rory noticed. "I couldn't believe Jamie wanted to marry me- he's so smart and handsome, the sex isn't that bad-"

"Hey, hey."

"I've been able to ignore the fact that he was at Princeton the last four years."

"So what's the big problem now?"

"He has a job lined up in New Jersey," she paused with a sigh, "so choosing him means giving up Yale."

"But does choosing Yale mean giving up Jamie?"

Paris shrugged, "I don't know. He was my first boyfriend Rory. We've been through everything. It's been four years, but I'm not sure what I should choose."

"Would you be happy staying at home all day? I don't know what you could do with three years of school and no actual degree."

"I could be editor of the Yale Daily News next year. I always wanted to write for Harvard, but this could get me a great job or an internship somewhere." Rory sat watching Paris walk around the room. Finally, she stopped and looked at her. "What would you do if Logan asked you to marry him?"

"Paris, you can't compare you and Jamie to Logan and me. Logan and I are both at Yale, so even if he asked, which he hasn't, I could stay at Yale the next year. We've only been together a year. We've only been together a year. But you have been with Jamie since high school. So much has happened in both your lives since then, but you're still together. that's love Paris."

"You really think so?" She asked pulling her sleeves down over her hands. Rory stood up and walked over to her as she nodded.

"I know so. You love Jamie and I know he loves you. The only question is do you love him more than Yale?"

Paris sat down on the couch and looked around. "College is only one more year and I could end up turning down a lifetime of happiness," she paused, "but is it real? What if I choose Jamie and lose it all?"

"Only you can decide that Paris."

"You're right," she said firmly. "It's up to me. Well I'm going to call Jamie and talk to him."

"Classes are over for the week. Go see him," Rory pushed.

"I see your point Rory. As soon as I see him I'm going to tell him -"

 **to be continued...**

 **sorry for the short first chapter.**


End file.
